Disability reform is enough to keep any minister busy

Given Australia's lacklustre record and the number of people relying on improvement, let's hope we don't rue the abolition of a dedicated minister for disability reform, writes Stella Young.

Awaiting the announcement of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's new Cabinet appointments earlier this week, there was one question on my mind: Would Senator Mitch Fifield be our new minister for disability reform?

I was hopeful. In his role as shadow minister for disabilities, carers and the voluntary sector, Fifield was a tireless champion for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Furthermore, he understands that disability reform isn't just about the NDIS; it's about education, employment, infrastructure and inclusion in all aspects of Australian life.

There couldn't be a better appointment for the Disability Reform portfolio. (Well, I suppose there could be a cabinet minister who actually has lived experience of disability, but this is Australia where education and employment opportunities for people with disability are few and far between, so that's pretty unlikely to happen soon.)

So it came as a bit of a surprise to hear Fifield named not as minister for disability reform, but Assistant Minister for the new portfolio of Social Services. This new brief will be overseen by Kevin Andrews and will encompass aged care, disability, housing, all income support payments and pensions, services for migrants and refugees, as well as multicultural affairs.

Furthermore, the Abbott Government will disband the Social Inclusion Board, established under the former government to look at the causes and effects of entrenched disadvantage.

With the NDIS, often referred to as the biggest social reform since Medicare, kicked off and rolling out across Australia over the next five years, I would have thought anyone with the remit of disability reform would have been pretty busy. Further to that significant work, there are inequalities in many areas of Australian life to address for people with disability, and there are an awful lot of us.

In 2009, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that an estimated four million people (18.5 per cent of the population) have a disability that restricted activities of daily living. You'd think that nearly 20 per cent of the population would warrant their own minister. Disability is hardly a fringe concern.

And let's talk about all the ways disability causes and affects entrenched disadvantage for a moment. In 2011, a report by Price Waterhouse Coopers found that people with disability in Australia have the poorest quality of life among people with disabilities in other OECD countries. We are more than twice as likely as those without disabilities to be living near or below the poverty line. When it comes to workforce participation rates, we rank 21st out of the 29 OECD countries. Fewer than 40 per cent of us are employed, compared to about 80 per cent of non-disabled Australians. That Social Inclusion Board really was just a little bit necessary.

While it is great news for Australians with disability that we haven't lost Mitch Fifield entirely from the portfolio (and indeed, that disability hasn't been relegated to the status of having a parliamentary secretary rather than a minister), the breadth of his new role makes it extremely unlikely that disability will be given a heavy focus.

And we need it. That's how change happens. That's how we lift the low expectations carried by people with disabilities. That's how we improve educational outcomes and workforce participation. That's how we improve the economy.

The UK, to which Australia is often compared when it comes to disability outcomes, boasts an entire Office for Disability Issues, even under the conservative Cameron government. Even a cursory glance at their website highlights the difference between their attitudes and ours when it comes to disability. The prominence of their Disability Equality Indicators is a prime example. The indicators are "a starting point in measuring progress towards disability equality".

We hardly dare to talk about "disability equality" in Australia. We're too busy trying to claw our way out of the entrenched disadvantage. With so much on his plate, I just hope Mitch Fifield will remain as committed to improving the lives of people with disabilities as he was in Opposition.

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Comments (6)

Bruno :

After nearly 30 years of being a quadriplegic I haven't seen much change. and don't expect that it will. I believe it's our fault because we are too scared, too patient, too accepting, too dependent.

Disabled people should be like the Unions of old and we should Shame governments into getting what WE WANT, not given. We should assemble and protest..........block the streets, show people how we are forced to live and use all media.Stop the talking, writing letters, quoting statistics, etc only. It hasn't achieved much or enough in the past, just read the article. And we must stop relying on others to tell our story and speak for us.......charities, support groups,etc.

The NDIS...........mmmmm. I suspect that they will delay it being implemented by announcing a detailed review to "improve" it. I give it 6 to 9 years away before the next excuse to stop it.

Lets start a political party or a union.......................ITS WAR!

Heather :

Just shocked we disabled did not make much of a dint in either major party this time.

Message to Labor to catch up for votes next election.

Disabled employed in those NDIS jobs - some can be time shared I am sure. Employment quotas 1 in 100 or pay a levy going to pensions, public transport better access to buildings.

Accessible public transport to get us to those jobs. Work on attitude's of employers. They disparage us for not working but will not employ us.Fancy making us put up with a 2 wheelchair policy on airlines - apartheid at its finest.

Government, Fed. State & Local must employ more disabled or nothing will change.

Politicians must be made responsible for their failures. Disabled and of course now the Ageing populations are a growing percentage of the vote, pollies, to ignore us next time hopefully will be yr. downfall.

Access, inclusion & equality for us too.

Be mindful your next car ride away could bring disability rich or poor. Age waits for no one and is your fate too.

Declan :

19 Sep 2013 6:43:14pm

In the days before the NDIS was voted in by parliament, there was a question mark over whether Tony Abbott would support it. He had been relentlessly adversarial on most other issues, seemingly opposing EVERYTHING the government put forward. Joe Hockey went on TV saying words to the effect of "the NDIS would be nice, by I don't know if we can really AFFORD it".

It turned out Tony Abbott DID support it, of course. But his priority always seemed to be political. There was always capital in beating Labor down every chance he could by opposing everything. But in this case the backlash would have outweighed that political benefit of blocking Labor. But did he support it because he really BELIEVED in it? Or is the hard right conservative agenda of small government and low spending more important to him?

Perhaps the makeup of the ministry gives us the answer. It was a long hard fight to get the NDIS this far. But I think it's only just begun.

Margaret Stevens :

19 Sep 2013 5:07:44pm

Stella your article is, unfortunately , indicating the way that Disability issues will go from now and in the future unless we remind the politicians, state and federal, that the amount of people with a disability are one in five people. This is 20% of the population nationally. With the strength of that amount of people we can vote them in OR out !!!

Laura :

21 Sep 2013 1:52:00pm

I don't know if you have ever written to the Aust. H.R. or Victorian Minister for Disabilities, Local MP, Att.Generals on both sides. Victorian Minister for Ageing, DHS Metro Access Officers, Local Council etc. etc.

I have and the answers are abominable, shameful, excusionist and there to work against us. Their message is opinions of disabled (and older people) do not matter, we are too easily scorned. They choose their experts who cow tow (or are stooges for them) to trample on us and silence us at every turn.

They tell me how much work they have done, how good they are. I am just complaining about nothing and none see it my way (disabled manual wheelchair user).

Anyone any bright ideas on how we become a force to be listened to ....let us know.

Aldo :

23 Sep 2013 9:04:35am

I agree with Margaret unfortunately it would appear the majority of Australian don't or are too ignorant to appreciate the power of their voice.When I consider not only the disabled but their families and friends the count must be enormous. How could they not be aware of what was going to happen.Abbot bents the truth to suit we know that and Hockey has already told us we can't afford NDIS. So what do you expect ,of course they will water it down, slow it down until it's ineffective they claim it doesn't work and abolish it. " Another Labor failure"We get the government we deserve.

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